


Days Feel Like Years (When I’m Alone)

by lovesnarf (snarfette)



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Abduction, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-06
Updated: 2018-07-06
Packaged: 2019-06-06 08:21:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15190715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarfette/pseuds/lovesnarf
Summary: It had been ten days.Ten days since Lachlan had lost his hold over whatever tightly wound control he had and finally snapped. Ten days since Aaron had heard Robert’s voice.





	Days Feel Like Years (When I’m Alone)

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by a post by Vix on tumblr about how Ryan’s facial hair might be linked to a Lachlan-related disappearance for Robert. Thanks for letting me use your theory as a prompt!

It had been ten days.

Ten days since Lachlan had lost his hold over whatever tightly wound control he had and finally snapped.

He’d taken Liv. Bundled her into the car and driven off with her. He’d been yelling at her about texts and threats and how no-one played games with him.

Aaron had been out of his mind with fear. It seemed like Lachlan, and all of his scheming, was unravelling, and Liv was the one who was going to be caught in the crossfire.

But then Robert had called him. They’d both been out searching for her, along with most of the Dingles, refusing to let the police handle it. And Robert had found them. He’d promised Aaron that he’d get Liv to safety and that was the last thing he’d said.

Aaron hadn’t heard his voice for ten days.

Liv had been found, dazed and terrified and distraught at the side of the road, miles away from Emmerdale. And there’d been no sign of Lachlan or Robert.

Aaron knew what the police were thinking, what they weren’t saying: it’s been too long; if we haven’t found someone after this length of time, we don’t expect to find them alive.

He refused to accept that: to even consider it. Because he couldn’t lose Robert.

His relief at having Liv home safe had been short-lived when it had become obvious that Robert had sacrificed himself in order to protect her. Liv had cried against Aaron’s shoulder about how Lachlan had been ranting and raving about how everything was Robert’s fault anyway so he might as well be the one to suffer. She had no idea where they were or what Lachlan was planning, but she was obviously terrified that Robert would never come home.

Aaron was terrified too: he was trying not to let his fear take over, he was trying to hold on to hope, but with every passing minute without any sign of Robert, he was struggling more and more to hold it together.

The first few days of Robert’s disappearance had been frantic. Aaron had practically torn the village apart searching for any evidence of where Lachlan might have taken Robert, and he’d driven around endlessly, and he’d questioned everyone, desperate for any tiny clue, and he’d begged the police to do more, and he’d cried and yelled and screamed in frustration.

And the days had started to bleed into one another because he was on the go constantly, never stopping in his desperate search. He went back to the same places to look again and asked Belle the same questions about her (ex) boyfriend (despite knowing she’d had no idea what a psycho Lachlan really was) and called the detectives in charge of the case over and over.

Gradually, he’d had to slow down. As desperate as he was for answers, he couldn’t keep it up and the long days and the emotional distress and the sheer exhaustion forced him to slow down. But not stop. He hadn’t given up. He’d never give up on Robert.

He’d hardly slept. He was torn between spending his time looking after his distraught sister and searching for Robert. And Seb seemed to be extra fussy. Aaron couldn’t help but think it was because he knew that one of his daddies wasn’t there. And Aaron could sympathise every time the little boy burst into tears because that was exactly what he wanted to do every time he walked back into the empty house after another fruitless search for Robert. Everyone had been chipping in to help out and look after Seb but Aaron didn’t want him with other people all the time. At least holding Seb in his arms made him feel closer to Robert and he was relieved to find that he was the one who seemed to calm Seb the quickest when he started on one of his epic crying sessions.

‘Please,’ he’d whispered into the darkness as he laid awake in his and Robert’s bed one night. ‘Please, let him come home.’ He hadn’t even known who he was talking to, but he was desperate.

***

Another long day had dragged by. Wearily, Aaron was driving back to the village after another few hours of driving around the countryside searching for any sign of Robert or Lachlan. He was about to turn off the main road and head towards Emmerdale when flashing blue lights and sirens caught his attention. The police cars flew out of the junction and sped off in the opposite direction and Aaron’s heart leapt in his chest. Surely there was only one thing that they could be rushing off for like that. He yanked the steering wheel round, tyres squealing as he pulled a u-turn, and floored the accelerator to follow the police cars.

When they eventually turned off down a bumpy farm track, Aaron suddenly felt a rush of panic. What if the police were responding to the call that a body had been found? What if, at the end of the lane, there was nothing at all and Aaron’s hopes were going to be crushed again? What if he never saw Robert again? What if he was going to live the rest of his life wondering what had happened to the man he loved? Never getting any answers.

He forced the negative thoughts away - he had to believe that it was going to be alright, for all of their sakes.

The police cars slowed to a halt outside a group of derelict farm buildings. The officers piled out and Aaron followed suit. They were surprised to see him and one of the detectives told Aaron to stay back, but there was a look of sympathy in her eyes that told Aaron she understood his desperation.

It was like torture waiting outside watching as officers carefully entered the buildings one by one searching and calling out. And then there was a shout from inside and people rushing about and Aaron thought his heart was going to beat out of his chest. His palms were sweaty and he was shaking with anxiety and he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the building before him.

One of the policemen rushed out and started talking in hushed tones to another officer and Aaron couldn’t wait any longer. Whatever was inside, he needed to know. He ran towards the doorway, ignoring the shout from behind him. He rushed through the building, following the sound of voices, and stumbled into a dark, damp room.

For a moment, he couldn’t accept what he was seeing. He gasped out loud and felt tears stinging his eyes.

“Oh god. Rob,” he gasped, his hand over his mouth.

At the sound of his voice, Robert looked up at him from his position sprawled on the floor, back to the wall, and blinked slowly at him a few times.

“Aaron?” he said quietly, his voice was so hoarse, like he’d not spoken or had a drinkfor days.

Without hesitation, Aaron rushed towards him. The police officer with Robert tried to hold him back with an arm out in front of Robert, but when Robert reached out painfully slowly towards Aaron, the officer backed away to give them space.

Aaron closed the distance and dropped to his knees, never taking his eyes off Robert. He didn’t reach out to touch him as he just needed a moment to take in the fact that Robert was actually right there in front of him and also the state that he was in.

Robert’s hair was so dirty that it looked more brown than blond and it lay flat against his head. His clothes were filthy, stained with dirt and dried blood around the collar of his shirt. His eyes were bloodshot and his skin pale. There was stubble across Robert’s chin, jaw and top lip and it was so odd in comparison to his usual clean-shaven appearance that it was a stark reminder of how long Robert had been missing.

“Aaron?” Robert murmured again. He was watching Aaron with wide eyes and he looked so small and scared.

Slowly, carefully because he felt sure that Robert would flinch away from him, Aaron reached out to him. He drew in a sharp breath when Robert leant into his touch and sighed deeply, and then he couldn’t resist shuffling closer and tugging Robert against him. He wrapped his arms around Robert’s body, squeezing his eyes closed in relief and breathing deeply. He felt the tremors passing through Robert’s body, making him shudder in Aaron’s arms, and he felt how thin Robert was, how his shoulder blades felt more prominent than before and how he felt so much more fragile somehow, although he knew Robert would hate that word being used to describe him. He rubbed Robert’s back, up and down, as they both seemed to take a few moments to just hold onto one another.

Eventually he pulled away and pushed Robert back gently. He reached up and smoothed a thumb over Robert’s eyebrow.

“It’s okay now,” he told Robert quietly. “It’s going to be okay.”

Robert blinked at him a few times and then over Aaron’s shoulder at the police officers milling around. “Just want to go home,” he whispered as he looked back at Aaron’s face.

Aaron nodded in understanding. “I know. I want that too. But I think you’re going to need to get checked over before you can come home.” At the almost panicked look on Robert’s face, he continued, “I’ll stay with you, I promise.”

“‘m just tired,” Robert objected.

Aaron eyed him doubtfully but he didn’t want to call Robert out on the blatant lie. He knew that Robert was proud, that he was always the ‘strong one’, so admitting that he was frightened and hurt and upset would seem impossible for him.

“Well, do it for me then, eh?” he said as he squeezed Robert’s hand. “You always say I love fretting, so you know I won’t settle until you’ve had a check up at the hospital.”

Eventually Robert nodded in agreement. It was his lack of words that told Aaron how distressed Robert really was. He was so quiet: it just didn’t seem right.

“Come on, then,” he said with a falsely cheerful voice. “Let’s get you up.” He pushed himself up to stand and reached down for Robert’s hand.

When Robert shakily stretched up to take it, his filthy shirt sleeve rode up his arm, revealing angry red wounds around his wrist. The skin was raw and bleeding and Aaron knew that the other wrist would look just the same because Robert had obviously been bound during his traumatic experience. He drew in another sharp breath, in rage at what Lachlan had done and in utter sorrow for what Robert had been through. At the sound, Robert looked at his face and then followed his gaze to his wrist before he pulled his hand away, tucking it against his stomach and hunching over.

Aaron dropped back to the ground in front of him and wrapped his arms around Robert again. He buried his head into Robert’s neck and, although he certainly didn’t smell very good after days of being held captive, he needed to just breathe him in. Tears stung his eyes again and he swallowed past the lump in his throat.

“It’s going to be okay,” he repeated, trying to force his voice to be steady. “I’m going to look after you.” He leant back and looked into Robert’s eyes.

“I know,” Robert replied quietly.

Aaron cupped Robert’s face with his hand, stroking his thumb across his cheek. “You know, this scruff,” he said, running his finger over the stubble on Robert’s jaw and offering him a smile, “I wouldn’t mind if you decided to keep it.”

And Robert actually smiled back at him. It was a tiny smile, but it was the best thing that Aaron had seen in days.

There were footsteps behind Aaron and he turned to see two paramedics entering the room.

“Robert?” one of them said gently. “I’m Holly, I’ve come to have a little look at you if that’s okay.”

Robert looked at Aaron, a little wide-eyed, but then he nodded slightly after Aaron’s encouraging smile.

“Don’t leave,” he said as he reached out and grabbed Aaron’s hand.

“I’m staying right here,” Aaron confirmed. He squeezed Robert’s fingers. “I’ve got you.”

**Author's Note:**

> As always, feedback is greatly appreciated. I’m snarfettelove on tumblr.


End file.
